The Under-Gifted
The Under-Gifted
| 30 April 1980 (USA)
The Under-Gifted Trailers

The story centers around a graduating class of "less-gifted" students in a private Versailles high school. Only a miracle has brought the students this far along, and after a practical joke misfires and the whole school is dynamited, the students are in deep trouble. They have to present themselves in court for their punishment and it could not be worse: If they don't pass their high-school graduation exams, they go to prison!

Reviews
Karry Best movie of this year hands down!
Evengyny Thanks for the memories!
ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.
BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
leplatypus Indeed, there is one genre in which American movies usually fail and french one are rather inspired : comedy ! And for my country, Zidi was among the best for that : he had really the talent to pick classic positive characters and put them borderline, so the fun ! Before policemen taking bribes, here he plays with cheating students ! It's light, natural not spoofs or too intellectual so you laugh really hard and have great fun ! The appeal of this movie is his great casting as well : today movies are brand-names, who's who of too much paid people but then, movies were open to unknown newcomers : they were fresh, full of energy and if some has built a career so far, it's has been a one-shot for the others… At last, this movie is also interesting because it happens in a France that has disappeared : if those students are lazy, they show some political ideas, they dress well. Today, students have nothing in their heads, guys dress with sport-ware all day and girls wear less to show more ! Actually, it's maybe the first time I watched this movie : when it was aired on TV, i was a kid so in a period which means no TV at night except Tuesday and Saturday, so i heard about it in school playground with my friends talking about it ! I'm on board for their summer sequel next week !
Thanos Karagioras "Les sous-doués" is a french comedy movie in which we watch a group of classmates who want to take the baccalaureate. But to succeed this they have to study very hard and they are not so much fan of studying. Also they belong to the high class so they go to a private high-school the Louis XIV and there they have very strict teachers who are willing to help them with any way to succeed to their exams and of course to gain reputation from their results. In this they will find some difficulties and there is the point where all the hilarious moments start to happen.I really liked this movie because it belongs to those kind of movies in which you never stop to laugh and every moment something really funny happens. I also liked this movie because of the interpretation of Daniel Auteuil who played as Baptiste Lavalle and he was simply outstanding and I believe that in this movie every interpretation was equally good because each interpretation had a different part in this success. Every person who played in this movie had his own part in this and when all of these parts are combined the result which came out was simply the best.Finally I have to say that "Les sous-doués" is one of the funniest french movies that I have ever seen and I strongly recommend it. I believe that the reason that was so good is because it does not exceed the limits of the comedy and stays on it and do not tire the audience.
FilmCriticLalitRao 'Baccalauréat' examination is a very important feature of French culture and civilization. Its importance can be assessed by the fact that the intellectual stance of a person is measured in France by ascertaining how many marks did that person get in his/her 'baccalauréat'/"Bac" examinations.Each year,this examination receives elaborate press as well as electronic media coverage. Despite the importance of this examination which is extremely popular outside of France too, there are not many French films which have shown the importance of "Baccalauréat" examination in a light manner. This is one reason why "Les Sous-Doués Passent Le Bac" must be considered a major achievement in the history of French cinema as it treats 'baccalauréat' examination in a very light fashion.French director Claude Zidi chose to highlight restrictions which were put on a group of students in order to make them succeed in their "Bac" exams. Watching this film, it appears as if the students have lost their sense of freedom. It is at this juncture that they decide to play ingenious tricks in classroom in order to score excellent grades. Les Sous-Doués Passent Le Bac shows us the world of students from their perspective as it enables us to understand why youngsters would like to have fun at all costs. It is a pure, visual delight to watch leading men of French cinema Daniel Auteuil, Michel Galabru, Feodor Atkine and Richard Bohringer. Lastly, Claude Zidi worked in close association with Didier Kaminka and Michel Fabre to pen a highly inventive script full of gags and unexpected comic situations.
yourockass2 Like any other in pop culture, Japan seems always to be very adaptable anything that is "cool", with knowing of meaning of it isn't important. The celebration of Christmas Day is long gone.Yes, I do remember this movie, of course. This was a huge hit in Japan when I was growing up... Japanese titled "The Cunning: IQ=0". I was in my first or second grade, all the kids learned the tricks of cheating exams, well, not during the real exams, but to act like those kids in the movie. That was a real fun to do.And if I was right, there was a sequence of this film. Either way, I wish this movie was more well-distributed than it was, to this day, it remains as a "cult" film.We enjoyed it a lot in Japan back then, it is so cool movie, we even did not know (or bother to know) this is from France.